Donald Cravins found guilty of conspiracy in civil trial

A federal civil jury has found Opelousas Mayor Donald Cravins guilty of conspiracy - during his term as a Louisiana state senator, for his role in a child custody dispute.

The jury ruled that Cravins and the city of Opelousas must pay $400,000 in damages to Resa Latiolais, who sued Cravins and two other men, along with the city and the Opelousas Police Department.

Court documents say the jury decided that Cravins "acted with malice, willfullness or indifference to the constitutional right of the plaintiff and with such shocking, offensive and reprehensible conduct as to justify an award of punitive damages against him."

The documents state that police arrested the plaintiff, Latiolais, for simple battery in December 2006 during an attempt by her ex-boyfriend, Bradley Griffith, to gain custody of their son. Documents also said Griffith conspired with Cravins and Opelousas police officer Roylis "Ricky" Gallow to get Latiolais arrested in violation of her constitutional rights.

Documents said that Cravins "conspired with and helped Bradley Griffith...by attempting to influence the outcome of her custody trial when, acting as a Louisiana State Senator, Cravins telephoned the investigating officer, (Lafayette Parish Sherriff's) Deputy Alex Montgomery," to help out Griffith with the case. Cravins stated that he was following through with his lawful duties as a state senator and was following state and federal laws.

KATC-TV reported that Cravins received a $1,000 campaign donation from Charisma/Tuxedo Den in July of 2006, a couple of months before police arrested Latiolais. The station reported that Griffith is the president of that Lafayette-based franchise.

The ruling is another of a long string of court proceedings in a long and bitter custody battle between Griffith and Laitolais, who were in a 14-year relationship that produced a child in 2001. Since 2005, Latiolais has claimed Griffith has been involved in "fabricating false arrests, baseless criminal prosecutions, coercion of (Latiolais' daughter from a previous marriage) to make bogus allegations of child abuse" in order to gain custody of their son.

Cravins did not return several phone calls seeking a response to the verdict. His lawyer, Paul Trosclair, said that he cannot comment on the case because Cravins has filed a second motion to dismiss the case, claiming that it should not have gone to a jury.

"We have every expectation that the judge will rule to dismiss," Trosclair said.

Cravins has been mayor of Opelousas for eight years. He lost his latest bid for reelection last month to Reggie Tatum.